The Builders Behind the Castles: George Loorz and the F. C. Stolte Company

I worked for Stolte Construction prior to its demise in the 1990's. My boss was Bill Loorz, son of George Loorz who is the prime focus of this book. The book goes behind the scenes - into the papers of the contractors and supervisors as well as Julia Morgan, the architect, to show how something as weird and unique as the Hearst Castle in San Simeon was designed and constructed. While working with Bill, he would tell us stories of his father's keen abilities in engineering and construction that proved essential in building something like the Hearst Castle that was so very remote during its prime construction days of the 20's and 30's. I think anyone involved in current design and construction would benefit from reading this book since they will get an appreciation of how difficult building was back then - ordering and waiting for materials, building first then hoping the client and architect will approve, installing difficult and complex temporary infrastructure only to be used during construction, and of course, constantly waiting for direction. In addition, the book discusses how small construction companies like Stolte get large as projects are completed successfully over many years, the lessons are still valid today.